St. Lucie County

Indian River County

Florida-seasonally adjusted

August this year: 4.0 percent

Previous month: 4.1 percent

August last year: 4.9 percent

What it shows

The combined unemployment rate for the three-county Treasure Coast fell to 4.9 percent in August, down from 5.1 percent in July. That reflects employment in August for more than 1,300 Treasure coast residents who did not have jobs in July. The number of unemployed decreased by almost 500 to 13,439, and the region’s workforce grew by nearly 900 to 273,449, which is 2.3 percent more than a year ago, according to estimates compiled from the U.S. Department of Labor’s monthly telephone survey.

The Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses Martin and St. Lucie counties, had the second fastest-annual job growth rate in manufacturing (+15.9 percent) among Florida metro areas in August. The Sebastian‐Vero Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area had the fastest annual job growth rate among Florida metro areas in education and health services (+6.9 percent) in August.

Noteworthy

Only Collier County in southwest Florida and Miami-Dade County saw increases in unemployment rates in August from the previous month, and a handful of counties had no change. The three Treasure Coast counties were among the remainder of Florida’s 67 counties that had slightly decreases. Though Indian River County’s 5.5 percent jobless rate in August is significantly lower than the 6.9 percent of a year earlier, it is tied for the seventh-highest rate in the state. St. Lucie County ranks 12th with a 5.0 percent rate, down from 6.2 percent a year ago.